Why do new shakes look so different on the roof?
In the Lower Mainland of BC, we have ideal conditions for algae, mildew, spores, microbes, moss and lichen. The smaller life forms lie on the surface of the wood and live on the moisture from the atmosphere and the nutrients in the wood. They chew up the top layer or two of cells on the wood, which then turn dark in colour, and very slippery in the wet weather. New shakes do not have this problem. It takes a year or two for weather to break down the resistance of the resin in the new wood Then microbes do their destructive work. That’s when it will blend. But doesn’t it make more sense to treat all the shakes so the life stops destroying them? When ROT Ban works for a few months, the pulverized surface cells of wood wash off, leaving a clean, whole wood cell surface. Then the wood stays that way – about the colour and texture of driftwood.
